Fate's Design
by TheGrayWitch
Summary: Alyss is a semi normal college student with a small gift: she's a projector. But even with this gift, her life's fairly bland. Until a certain god of mischief walks into her life. Or should we say falls in? T for languague, violence and mild themes
1. Chapter 1: Welcome to My Life

**Disclaimer: **All recognizable characters belong to Stan Lee and the Asatrus that created Norse mythology. Sorry, I'm not epic enough to own Loki :P

**Chapter One: Welcome to My Life**

**~Alyss~**

I sighed as I walked through the halls of the college, trying to keep my emotions in check. If I wasn't careful, well, life would go from just a regular bomb to an atomic one, mushroom cloud and all. Once I finally got to the parking lot I could breathe. Well, thought I could.

"Oi! Alyss!" A familiar voice called. I turned around to see Oliver sprinting for me. An eyebrow rose up as my best friend skidded to a stop in front of me and doubled-over panting. I opened my mouth to comment but he raised a finger to stop me. "Give." pant "Me." pant. "A sec."

I nodded. Lemme give you some insight on my friend here: Ollie might be tall, thin and look like a track star with long skinny chicken legs but he's the laziest tall, skinny guy I've met. Only guy I could beat on a race, which is saying something 'cause before I met Oliver, I was the undefeated champion of the title "Worst Runner in the Class". Now I'm only second worst, which makes me feel a little better.

After poor Oliver finally got his breath, he stood and pressed his wire rim glasses closer to his face. "So," I said while I started walking out into the parking lot. "Why were we trying to kill ourselves to get a hold of me?"

Ollie rolled his eyes at me. "Poe told me about the publisher thing. That just sucks!"

I frowned. "Sucks" didn't even cover it. Five years it took me to finally finish my book and it gets rejected for the thirteenth time. Not only that, but my professor who's been my support since I got here tells me it's a lost cause? I'm not just burned, I'm chopped up, stuck on a skewer and roasting. I sighed before answering. "Well, it's not like anyone really wants to read a story about a girl with a freaky gift. It's been done,"

Oliver rolled his eyes. "When you say it like that, yeah, but how many of those 'freaky gifts' happen to be able to see ghosts?"

"A lot,"

"And the fact she has a stuffed cat that's possessed by one?"

"Okay, that's a little unique,"

"A little?" Ollie's voice raised an octave. "Alyss, you're a prodigy, for Christ's sake! You make my scribbles go to shame! Poe even said so!"

I smiled a bit as I walked up to my truck, a beautiful black four-door with a thinner, lankier version of the Cheshire cat from the new Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland painted on the side. The complete the look, the tailgate had the trademark glowing green eyes and wide toothy smiled painted in it. Added bonus, the license plate read "SMLE BIG". I ran my hand over the face of the smiling cat like I was petting him before I opened the driver side door. "For the millionth time, Ollie, I'm not a prodigy. I just love to write,"

"And that's what makes you so good," He said as he hopped into the passenger's side. "It's the love and passion a writer brings into his, or should I say her, story that makes it beautiful. You've got a gift, Alyss. You just need to realize it,"

I smiled and shook my head as I pulled out of the parking lot and headed home. We kept silent, me because I wasn't in the mood to argue anymore while I drove and Ollie because he knew better. My smiled sank into a frown as the reality of it all sank in. Sure, many people told me my work was great but publishers liked to pigeon-hole stories so they could sell 'em. According to my professor, my stuff couldn't get pigeon-holed which was why I keep getting rejected. He told me to work on something that stuck with a specific genre. Unfortunately, that wasn't something I could do. Writing is all about having fun with your work and enjoying it. I wouldn't have much fun if I wrote something you could stick a label on. But maybe that's my fate then.

Ollie must've noticed my mood shifting because he suddenly said "Why don't we go to the desert tonight? We have a couple days of free time. We'll even take Fenris, how's that?"

I stare thoughtfully at the road as the light changed. A day or two away from town with my two best buds? Why not? My grin answered for me because Ollie suddenly smirked and said "Great! So, we'll get home, pack and then head out tonight,"

I laughed at Ollie's eagerness. "Let's not forget to pick some food up over at the grocery store. I'm sure we'll want s'mores right?"

I got an even bigger grin for that. It reminded me so much of a little kid that I couldn't help cackling at it. We continued to drive through the town of Puente Antiguo until we got to the outer edge, where a little house stood by its teen tiny lonesome. Just the way I liked it. I drove the truck into the carport next to the house. There was a loud barking noise as my wolfdog, Fenris bolted out of the house through the back door that had a broken lock (I'd been meaning to fix it but who has the time?). He was white with dark patches and those beautiful dark amber eyes. Fen never had a collar because everyone knew who's dog it was, even if they didn't know me personally. I did get him chipped though, just in case. My wolf waited by my door as I opened it and was so eager to pounce on me.

"How's my baby boy?" I grinned as I petted and scratched his head. "Wanna go for a trip?" That earned a happy yip and he immediately slipped back into the house, no doubt to nab the leash and collar that always hung in reach. I grinned as I closed and locked my car, Oliver following suit. We packed up around the house, Oliver getting his things that were always her. The boy practically lived with me. It was so bad that I'm still squashing rumours about us dating.

After about an hour or so, we got all our camping gear and visited the local market to get all the food we need for the camp out, like marshmallow (we got like five bags because I am a roasted marshmallow fiend!), chocolate (Hershey's of course) and graham crackers and in no time, we were driving off "into the sunset" (inside joke, I'm sure you can figure it out. I'll give you a hint, we're both writers). Oingo Boingo's "Dead Man's Party" blasted out my stereo, with me and Oliver singing it at the top of our lungs and Fenris howling along. I grinned at my two favorite boys in the world, having the time of my life as we drove to our favorite camp spot. Time could have stopped there and I would have been perfectly content. However, fate seemed to have a different plan for me.

_**Author's Note: **_Hello all! I hope you guys enjoy this. I know it's probably too short for some people's taste but I've been working on this little chapter for quite some time and only now found a perfect place to end it. I'll try and post a new chapter ASAP, maybe tonight, maybe tomorow morning, we'll see. Yes, this is meant to be a Loki/OC fic but hopefully an enjoyable one. I must confess that I don't know too much about the Marvel universe to stay terrible close to that storyline. I just saw the Thor movie and loved it to death! Especially Loki ^^ So, anywho, hope you enjoy this and I'll be updating soon! :D

TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!


	2. Chapter 2: Surprises

**Disclaimer:** I only own Alyss and Oliver. Loki doesn't belong to me (sadly :P)

**Chapter Two: Surprise**

**~Alyss~**

"Alyss, if you eat anymore of those, you'll get fat,"

I rolled my eyes as I stuck my umpteenth marshmallow on the skewer and held it over the fire. "Yea yeah, and how many times have you told me that and I've just danced it off that week?"

He rolled his eyes at me and I stuck my tongue out playfully while I waited for my marshmallow to catch on fire. Fenris was lying next to my chair, happy after the fact I gave him a couple burnt marshmallows. This was the life. Roasting marshmallows with the best friends I could ask for under the desert sky. Heaven on earth. All night we spent talking and roasting marshmallows (barely touching the crackers and chocolate), sometimes we played fetch with Fen using his favourite Frisbee. All in all, a good night.

But something was off… There was a feeling in the air that told me that something was gonna happen. I even looked up at the sky from time to time to check and make sure everything was as it should be. For the most part, it was. The sky was cloudy but it wasn't like that was too out of the ordinary. Just the feeling kept on strong, telling me something was going to happen… Oh well, maybe I'm being silly.

I pulled my marshmallow from the fire once it was aflame and blew on it till it was safe to eat. Licked my lips, I assessed the gooey treat and made sure the entire outside was burned before popping it into my mouth. Oliver was still roasting his over the fire, trying to get the damn thing "golden brown". I rolled my eyes at the sight as I stuck the skewer into a bucket full of hot water and checked my watch: 11 pm. A yawn escaped, which meant it was time to turn in, which was odd since I normally didn't go to bed till at the earliest midnight. Oh well, the body wants what it wants and right now it wanted sleep.

"Night, Ollie," I called before ducking into my blue tent and zipping it closed. I could see the silhouette of Fenris move closer to the tent then plop right in front of it. I smiled as I shrugged off the jacket I wore to keep the night's chill away and kicked off my classic converse. Snuggling in my sleeping bag with my clothes still on, I turned on the little battery-powered stereo and prepped for sleep. One Republic's "All We Are" started to play and acted as a lullaby for me as my mind drifted. The last thing I thought about was the strangeness in the air before finally falling asleep.

I woke to a rattle at the opening of my tent and a shouting outside. It was so dark I had to turn on my battery-powered lamp to see Oliver's form at the entrance.

"Alyss! Alyss, get up! We gotta go!"

"Huh?" I groaned as I crawled out of my sleeping bag and unzipped the opening to the tent. "Whuh?"

Oliver's eyes were frantic and it took me a small second to realize why. Not too far off in the sky. Some of the clouds had converged and began creating what looked like a wind tunnel. And we were terribly far from where it would touch the ground.

"Crap!" I shouted as I scrabbled out of the tent. There was no time for me and Oliver to take down the tents on our own. We needed back-up. Focusing, I concentrated on the images of the White Rabbit, the March Hare, and various other animal characters from Alice in Wonderland. In no time, there were small pops as these characters came into existence and immediately started taking down the tents and packed thing away in recorded time, albeit a little clumsily. While that occurred, I got a hold of a freaked out Fenris who was barking up and storm and got in the truck with Oliver. The second we were all packed the projections went away and I was peeling out and away from the site.

The wind had already picked up badly was the tunnel was getting closer to touch down, making it next to impossible to see. Driving bare foot didn't help thing either but hey, I'm in a hurry remember. The dust in the air made it so bad I was turning this way and that while trying to figure out which way was out. Suddenly, through all the dust, a figure suddenly appeared in front of the truck. Out of pure instinct, I stamped on the brake and jerked the wheel so the truck would swerve away and miss. No such luck. There was a dull thud as the figure smacked right into my door. Everything stood still at that one moment. The truck was stopped and the air was starting to clear.

Now if my heart would stop thumping so damn loud. After a minute of silence, Fenris began barking again, obviously trying to get our attention and remind us of the person we just hit.

"Holy shit!" Oliver exclaimed, adjusting his glasses. "What the hell happened!"

I took a very deep breath. "I-I don't know," I gulped and started to open the door.

"What?" Oliver shrieked. Yes, shrieked. Happens when you're freaked out. "What if it's some creep?"

"Doubt it," I said as I grabbed my flashlight from the glove compartment and hopped out of the car. I shined my light and hoped to god I wouldn't see a corpse. A few feet away, a man lay face down on the ground, looking out cold. "Get the first aid!" I shouted as I scuttled to the guy and knelt by him. "Please, don't be dead….please don't be dead…" I muttered as I placed a finger on his neck. Pulse. Thank god! "He's alive! Out but alive!" I shouted as I made an effort to turn him over onto his back. Oliver slide into a crouch by me with the first aid.

"Wow…" He said, eyes popping out of his head. Wow was right. Once on his back, I could see the not so dead guy much easier. He had semi long raven black hair, just passed his ear, that frame very pale and thin face. He had those high cheekbones most people would sell their souls for and an almost regal look to him, even in the jeans, black shirt and leather looking jacket he was wearing. This guy was quite attractive, even made me blush just looking at him.

"Wow, Alyss," Oliver whistled. "You've got yourself a looker,"

I glared at him. "And what in hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Awe, c'mon. How meet cute is this?" He grinned, apparently trying to lighten the mood. "Gonna be a great story to tell the kids"

"Oh, shut up," I told him as I rolled my eyes and stood up, moving around the guy. "Come on, help me get him up," I stood near the guys head and bent down hook my arms under his armpits so I could lift his torso. Oliver grabbed his legs. Another projection of the White Rabbit came to being and opened the door to the back, where Fenris was sitting obediently. The wolfdog moved to the front seat as I climbed into the truck backwards, pulling the guy with me.

Just as I'm about to just simply lay the guy along the back seat, Oliver says "Hey, why do you sit in the back with him? Make sure he doesn't fall,"

I gave him a question mark look. "How the hell do we do that? He's so tall he takes up the whole back,"

Oliver grinned. "Just have his head in your lap," His grin got even wider. "Sure you wouldn't mind that,"

I blushed but considering the situation in made sense. So I sat on the passenger's side window seat with a stranger's head in my lap while Oliver drove truck. My truck, mind you. Screw that some gorgeous guy's head was in my lap, I didn't like anyone driving Chesh (Yes I named my truck after the Cheshire Cat. Sue me). Fenris had somehow squished himself into the back on the floor with his head resting on the buy's stomach. He looked so cute! It was actually rather odd…normally, Fenris was wary of strangers and while he didn't look completely comfortable with this guy, it was enough that he was growling by the mere presence of the stranger. Must be a wolf thing…

As we drove, I couldn't help but sneak glances at the guy. He was attractive but it wasn't his face. Something in me told me to keep an eye on him. Whether it was in a cautious or a caring way, it was hard to tell but one thing's for sure: I wanted to know more about him.

At one point I was staring at him for so long I was both shocked and embarrassed when he stirred. His eyes slowly open to reveal they were green. Like a serpent. And stared right into my strange mismatched ones.

I blushed. "Oh! Wow, you're awake," I sputtered, hands fluttering away as I realized one was resting on his chest rather casually.

He just stared back at me in a lazy sort of way but still like he was looking through me. Then his eyes turned to the pair of circular metal peices inscribed with a rune on each swinging from a string around my neck. He slowly reached a hand out to hold one and stared at it intently. "_Dagaz_…"He muttered. Holy bats, his voice was mouth watering. It took all my willpower not to stare like an idiot.

"Y-you know Norse runes?" I asked, hoping to keep him talking.

He didn't say anything, just kept looking at the pendant. Then his eyes turned back to me. "Who are you?" He asked, his voice soft and still a bit sleepy.

I gulped. "Um, Alyss. Alyss Cromwel. You?"

"Lo…ki…" He answered, almost too softly as he started to fall back asleep.

"Excuse me, what?" But it was too late, he's already fallen asleep. What was it he said? Loki? I slightly laughed at the thought. Nah, no way, it couldn't be…Could it?

_**Author's Note:**_ Hello. Sorry it took so long, I haven't been able to sit still all day. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter :) Next will be switching between Alyss and Loki's point of view so bear with me ^^; Please review what you think so far! Thanks! :D

Oh! And before I forget, "dagaz" is the Norse rune for "day" or "dawn". I have a neckalace like Alyss' with that rune and another hanging from it. The other rune is "kenaz" ("beacon" or "torch"). I'm honestly not sure where I got it from. I just found it in my room one day not too long before I went to see Thor and have been wearing it ever since :) It's kind of my good luck charm xD

TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!


	3. Chapter 3: Next Day

**Disclaimer: **Nope, still can't sure me 'cause I only own Alyss and Oliver. Hah! (Not that you would get much anyway)

**Chapter Three: Next Day**

**=Loki=**

The last thing he remembered was falling. The bridge had been destroyed and he was holding on for dear life, keeping a tight grip Gungnir. Then Odin said those two earth shattering words. _No, Loki_. With just those two little words, he had lost all hope, hope that he could finally shine and make his father proud. And so he let go of the staff and let himself fall into nothingness.

There was a fleeting dream about a girl named Alyss with dark hair and strange eyes; One chocolate brown and one sapphire blue. And two runes, _dagaz_ and _kenaz_ were hanging from her neck. But it was only a dream. A strange dream but a dream nonetheless.

Loki felt himself laying on something, it felt like some sort of bed. Had he finally reached the end? Was he in Valhalla or Hel? Only one way to find out… He slowly opened his eyes and was suddenly blinded by an awfully bright light. It took him a minute to adjust but he saw he was in a strange white room. Tubes connected to his arm through what seemed to be needles lead to machines displaying number and line and making an awful beeping noise. Where in the Nine Realms was he?

"Rise and shine," He heard to the side of him. He stiffly sat up to see a woman dressed in white walk into the room with a clip board. She looked at the clip board while walking over to the machines. "Well, Mr. Liam, your vitals look good. There seems to be no sign of a concussion….you're temperature is a little low but not terribly so. You should be back on your feet in a couple more hours," She said with a smile as she wrote down something before heading back out the door.

"Excuse me?" He asked. "Where am I?"

The woman turned and looked at him strangely. "Oh, your friends did mention you might be from elsewhere. You're in Puente Antiguo, New Mexico,"

"My…friends?" He asked, still confused. How had he ended up here?

"Yes, the boy and girl," She looked back at the clipboard and turned the page. "Alyss Cromwel and Oliver Montrell?"

"Oh…yes, them," He said, still confused. There was no recollection of an Oliver Montrell, but he did recall an Alyss Cromwel. _The girl from my dream? But then, was that..real?_ He couldn't say for sure.

The woman smiled at him again. "Just rest for now dear. We'll send you home as soon as we can,"

Loki merely nodded as the woman left the room. He observed the room from his vantage point and remembered the time Thor had been taken to a hospital in Midgard. _So I'm alive and on Midgard._ The realization was strange. He hadn't expected to survive the fall, much less be take into the care of the Midgardians. _So what am I to do now?_ He had no place to stay, no money. A thought came to his mind and he snapped his fingers. A small green flame appeared in hand. The god of mischief smirked as he doused the flame. _I can always make my own way._

**~Alyss~**

"Alyss, would you quit pacing. You'll make me sick," Oliver groaned, sitting on the tailgate of my truck. Fenris had been left at home, though he gave me the puppy dog look of doom when I told him to stay. I reasoned with myself that it might not be a good idea to bring him to a hospital, all things considered. Still, I felt bad but now was now the time. About an hour or so before, I got a call from the hospital that "Liam" was going to be released that day. When we checked the guy in, I picked Liam as a name because I didn't want to deal with all the crap that would come from me calling him "Loki", which was a trip in and of its self. It all seemed to weird. There seemed to be something up with the guy but the Norse god of mischief? C'mon! It can't be true!

Although, people were still talking about that incident from a few weeks ago; the one involving some weird metal golem like thing that destroyed half the town by looking at it. Sadly, I was visiting my aunt in New York at the time, so I missed it. Drats! Anywho, some of my classmates mentioned see for people in armour, like they were going a Renaissance faire or something and a blonde guy with some big ass hammer. At the time, I attested it to them being drunk off their asses and tripping off of 'shrooms or something, which I couldn't entirely blame them. It _was_ a bit boring in Puente Antiguo, though I wouldn't resort to drugs myself, thank you.

Either way, this guy made me way to curious for my own good and it didn't help that me and Oliver didn't have a clue what to do about him. To the doctors, we were a couple of his friends picking him up from a bad night in the desert. "Lucky him" is what they thought. Sure, lucky him but what about us. And what if he did turn out to be the famed god of mischief? That certainly wouldn't bode well.

"ALYSS!" Oliver shouted, apparently too exasperated to care that five people near us jumped. "Cool your jets! What is with you?"

"I'm pacing nervously," I said, continuing my attempts to make a small trench where I was walking.

Oliver rolled his eyes. "And let me guess, you're the Flash and this is how the Flash paces. Now you're going to the Grand Canyon to scream in frustration. Oh, wow! You're back early,"

I stopped and stared at my friend. "How the hell did Big Bang Theory come into the conversation?"

He grinned. "I dunno but it finally got you to stop,"

I rolled my eyes and sat on the tailgate with him. "What the hell are we gonna do? We can't just leave the guy in the dust,"

"Well, we could but you'd feel so guilty your head would explode,"

"And yours wouldn't?"

Oliver shrugged. "Maybe a little but I'm no mother hen like you,"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh hush. So what are we gonna do?"

He sighed. "Why don't you just let the guy stay at your place for a bit? You've been saying you wanted a roommate to take the extra room,"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "And a total stranger fits the bill,"

"Hey, you had his head in your lap last night!" He said with a grin. "That is some serious bonding,"

"Oh good god," I groaned as I pinched the bridge of my nose between my index finger and my thumb. "Well, letting stay doesn't sound toooooo bad…"

"And you can keep him in check with your mad reflexology skills! And with you being a project – "

I slapped my hand over his mouth before he could finish the last word. "Icks-nay on the ojector-pray!" I hissed after carefully making sure no one heard. I really didn't want anyone to find out I could make certain things come to life. Talk an active imagination.

"Okay, okay, sorry," he said, flinching at the glare I was giving him. My friend then leaned over slightly and nodded in the direction of the hospital. "There's Liam," I looked up and noticed "Liam" walking out of the hospital, looking somewhat confused. Oliver hopped onto the bed of my truck, stood up and waved his arms. "Yo! Liam! Over here!"

I slapped my palm against my forehead. "Dumbass…." I hissed as I looked up again. Liam was coming our way, though he still looked confused. I leapt off the truck and greeted him with a smile. "Hey, Lee. Long time no see. Feeling better?"

He looked at me with confusion but I guess he got the drift. "Yes, thank you very much,"

I waved it off casually. "Meh, what are friends for, right? C'mon, let's head up to the house," I headed to the driver's side and Ollie hopped off on the bed and made a beeline for shotgun. "Uh-uh, Ollie. You get back. Let Liam have shotgun,"

My best friends eyes bugled out of his head. "What?"

"You heard me. C'mon, the poor guy probably went through hell last night. Let him have shotgun,"

Oliver glared and stewed as he sent around the front of the truck. Just as he passed me he whispered "This wouldn't have to do with you drooling about him last night, would it?"

I stamped on his foot in the process of climbing into my truck. "Sorry, didn't catch that,"

Ollie sucked in a breath. "I said, you're probably right,"

I grinned. "Of course I am," I looked over to see Liam standing by the truck, unsure where to sit. "Come up to the front, Lee. I won't bite,"

"Much," Ollie whispered, which got an elbow to the ribs.

Liam stood there for a moment then climbed into the front seat with me. Once all my passengers were buckled, I put good old Chesh in gear and got out of the parking lot of the hospital. This was going to be interesting.

_**Author's Note:**_ 'Ello. Well, this came out interesting. Hope you all enjoy. I really hope I pulled off Loki okay ^^; That kind of worried me. Please review ASAP :) By the way, The next chapter is "planned" to be in Loki's point of view, which'll give me that chance to describe the outer aspects of my character Alyss better :) I say planned because really, who know's how it'll turn out. Enjoy!

TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!


	4. Chapter 4: Observations

**Disclaimer: **I only own Alyss and Oliver

**Chapter Four: Observations**

**=Loki=**

Loki sat in the truck as they drove, watching the girl next to him. She had long dark brown hair that reached just passed the top of her legs, with about a foot of the end dyes shades of blue shifted from deepest midnight to bright sky. Her body was slender but curvy, the look watered down by the blue jeans and loose black shirt she wore. On the shirt read in white letters "Of course I'm out of my mind! It's dark and scary in there…". Her skin was tanned, obviously from the fact she spent so much time in the sun. But her eyes…her eyes were the thing that intrigued him the most. It's actually what stood out to him the most when they first "met", when he thought he was dreaming. The left eye was a deep sapphire blue with the other was a mild chocolate brown. In all his long life, he'd never seen eyes like that.

The boy, Oliver, wasn't too interesting. Short spiked black hair, pale blue eyes with glasses and a bit pale and very thin. What was interesting was how these two seemed to act. They squabbled like brother and sister, though Loki knew better than to think they were related. Maybe they grew up together. Either way, he'd find out.

As they drove, he watched Alyss while she drove, trying to come up with a way she could be of use to him. She was small, young, maybe in her early twenties, and very nervous by the looks of it. Didn't look terribly bright either though she was quite attractive. He might try to trick her into give him a place to stay for the time being while he figured things out. Yes, that sounded like a good idea.

Finally, they arrived at a small two story house on what looked to be the outskirts of town. The god wrinkled his nose at the sight. White paint was peeling everywhere from all the wind and the screen door on the side was swinging open. As Alyss parked her car into the covered carport, Loki could hear an insistent barking and looked to see a massive dog bound out of the house and stop right at her door. He could have sworn it was a wolf but he knew better. Mortals could never tame wolves and keep them as pets. It was impossible. But when he stepped out of the truck and followed Alyss and Oliver into the house, he could see that it was a wolf. Or at least looked like one.

"How did you tame a wolf?" He asked, following them into was looked like a little kitchen. The girl turned back.

"Hmm? Oh, you mean Fenris?" She asked, gesturing to the canine at her heels. "He's only part wolf. Not sure what else he is but I'd guess husky or something since he looks like a wolf,"

"Fenris?" Loki asked.

"Yeah," She said with a sheepish smile as she led him into the living room. Oliver was rummaging around in the fridge. "He's named after the giant wolf from Norse mythology and Loki's one of my favourite gods, so," She shrugged and gestured to and armchair for him to sit.

He couldn't help the small bit of pride he felt when she said that. I am her favourite? It took all he had not to smirk at the idea. "I see," He said simply.

She gave him another sheepish smile as she sat down as well. "Yeah, I'm a geek. Ask me nearly any question on mythology and I'll most likely know it. If not, I can find it," Her smile became a little more genuine at the before it went back to being nervous. "So…Will you be heading off anywhere? Friends, family?"

_Here it comes._ He looked thoughtful, like he was really thinking about her question. "I'm not sure. I don't really have any that I could go to,"

Alyss bit her lip and nodded, looking down at the wolf lying at her feet. The beast looked up at her with a pleading look, which made her smile. It seemed like she found confidence in the creature's eyes because she looked back up at Loki and said "If you want, you could crash here,"

He did a double take. "Excuse me?"

The sheepish and shy look came back into her eyes. "Look, you need a place to stay and I've needed a roommate for a while. You can leave whenever you want. I won't make you stay if you don't want to,"

He just stared at her for a while. Was this girl suicidal, openly inviting him to stay in her home? She hardly knew anything about him and if he remembered correctly, she barely even knew his name. Loki carefully thought over her offer. It's was exactly what he wanted but it all seemed to perfect. He didn't even need to use his usual persuasions to convince her. The girl came up with it all on her own, no influence from him. But he really wasn't in a position to turn down such an offer.

The god smile with what looked like genuine gratitude. "I would appreciate that. Thank you,"

The girl looked surprised. "Great! Oh, I didn't catch your name before. All I got was an L, sorry,"

He nodded like it was understandable. "You can call me Loki,"

Something flashed in her eyes but it went away too quickly for him to really care. "Ah, interesting name. Parent's enthusiasts?"

He nodded. "Very, particularly Norse mythology,"

"I see…" The girl smiled slightly again, the sheepish look never leaving her eyes. The phone rang on an end table near the stairs, which made Alyss literally hop up and get it.

"Hello? Tomas! Hi, what's up? Again? Oh dear god…" She held the phone in one hand and had her hand on her hip, tapping her first two fingers in irritation. "Are you serious? Great…Yeah, I'll be there but I'd better be getting overtime for this!" She hung up the phone with an annoying sigh. Running a hand through her long hair she growled to herself. Loki could barely make out the words "fucking bitch" under all the hissing she was doing. Some of the words didn't even sound English. Alyss finished her rant then looked over at Loki then at Oliver who was leaning against the doorway of the kitchen.

"Lemme guess, Trish bailed again?" He said, looking like this wasn't something new.

Alyss nodded. "I don't know why Tomas keeps her around," She sighed before turning to Loki. "Sorry, I've gotten head to work. One of my coworkers hasn't come in and it's the busy time with all the college students. Ollie can show you around,"

"Why me?" whined the boy in question.

"You practically live here. Who else can show him around while I'm busting my ass?"

Oliver frowned but didn't argue further as Alyss went out the door, Fenris on her heel. They could hear her consol the dog and tell him he can't come before the door slammed shut. The revving of an engine clued them that she was gone. Oliver took off his glasses and cleaned them with his shirt before putting them back on. "Perfect," he sighed.

"Where does she work?" Loki asked, curious.

"A little café close to the college. It's around lunch time so there'll probably be a ton of students there,"

"Why does she work at something she doesn't enjoy?"

"Oh, she enjoys it, she just doesn't like having to take up slack from the other waitresses. Can't say I blame her. Alyss is the first person her boss asks for because she actually pulls through. I've hardly seen her take a sick day,"

"I see," Loki said, looking about the room a little more. There wasn't much that spoke of who this girl was, except from a bookshelf tucked off to the side. He stood up and went to go take a look at it.

"Hey, want anything?" Oliver asked. "There's soda and stuff. Sorry but there's no beer or anything like that. Alyss isn't much of a drinker,"

"Soda would be fine, thank you," The god nodded as the boy retreated back into the kitchen. He observed the shelves and noticed it was filled with little figurines and such, mostly teddy bears and Halloween theme knick-knacks. Tucked in the corner was a small picture of a man and a woman holding a child that was perhaps five or six years old.

"Oh, that's her mom and dad,"

He turned to see Oliver standing behind him with a can in each hand. The boy handed him one and opened his own, looking back at the picture. The god took the can gladly and opened his as well before taking a sip. Curious drink. It was sweet and had a strange texture to it that he somewhat liked.

Loki took another sip before nodding to the picture. "Where are they?"

"Dead,"

His eyes widened at how blunt Oliver was. "Oh,"

The boy shrugged. "Yeah, I never met them but Alyss was really close to them. Died in a fire when she was thirteen, poor kid,"

"I see. When did you meet Alyss?"

"Couple years ago when she came here for college. Before that I think she was staying with an aunt in New York,"

"Why'd she leave?"

Oliver shrugged again. "Said she had boyfriend troubles. Nothing big. Well, that's how she put it. But when I talked to her aunt about it, turns out the guy was some real asshole. Real nice and caring at first but then showed his true colours after a few months. They had one bad fight that turned physical and she broke it off with him. Guy's a real mental case, wouldn't leave her alone so she packed up and moved here,"

"Why here of all places?"

Another shrug. "Probably because it's so far from New York and so different. I mean, sure NYC is great an all but I like it here much better myself. So does Alyss. Over there it's busy, busy, busy. Here, you can slow down and actually breathe, when you let yourself. Unlike Alyss,"

Loki smiled with Oliver and took another sip of his soda. This was all very interesting. "She won't slow down,"

Oliver laughed. "Nope, not one bit. If it's not work, it's school. If it's not that, it's what even little project she'd got going on here. I mean, she's better than she used to be but still, that girl does not know when to sit down and chill. But she's a good roommate, don't worry about that. Gives you your privacy when you need it but always willing to help out when it's right,"

"I see,"

The boy nodded and drained his soda. "C'mon, let's give you the grand tour,"

Oliver showed Loki around the house. Besides the kitchen and living room, there were two bedrooms. One was turned into Alyss' study and the other was the guest bedroom with a bathroom attached to it. Another smaller bathroom was down the hall. When Loki asked where Alyss slept, Oliver pointed to the ceiling and showed him the door to the attic.

"Why there?"

Oliver shrugged. "Dunno. Likes the space I guess. She's got a million books too, so she needs the room,"

Loki nodded. Oliver showed him the basement, which was pretty bare except for several boxes. "I think she wanted to turn this place into a recreational room or something. Just finding the time and the supplies is a bitch,"

The god nodded again, taking in all the information he was gaining. This girl Alyss was an interesting character. She didn't seem home enough to keep the house terribly clean, though wasn't careless enough to leave it a total mess either. Floor needed a bit of a sweep, some dusting could be done but it's was actually quite cozy.

When the tour was done, Loki and Oliver had relocated to the living room and sat on the couch. The wolfdog, Fenris, who must have been waiting at the back door for Alyss and finally giving up, had come in as well sat himself at Loki's feet, resting his head on his knee. The god reached out a hand and scratched the top of the canine's head, which seemed to make him happy.

Oliver let out a small chuckle. "Well, consider yourself part of the family now,"

Loki gave him a confused look. "Why do you say that?

The boy nodded to the wolf. "Fen has this weird thing with people. Alyss says it's an animal thing, particularly wolves. They can sense, or at least he can, whether someone's decent or not. One time, I brought this girl over and he didn't like her from the get go," The boy let out another laugh. "Man, you should've seen it. Fen was growling and barking up a storm, sometimes making a sound that was close to both. She's all freaked out and threatening to call the cops on the dog – excuse me, wolf, Alyss hates it when I call Fenris a dog. Anyway, so the girl's standing at the door, she calls the police and both Alyss or still in the house, Fen hasn't moved from his spot in front of her. Girl's saying Fen lunged at her and all this crap, Alyss and me are denying it and the cops get a little suspicious. They know Alyss and Fen. Hell, everyone knows Fenris since he gets a walk around town all the time and hardly anyone's really seen a wolfdog. So they search her and find weed and crap in her pocket. Turns out the bitch was a big druggie and Fen sniffed the crap on her. You can't get nothing passed this pup," Oliver grinned and patted Fenris on the head.

Loki nodded at the story, turning his gaze at the wolf. "Has anything else like that happened before?"

Oliver nodded. "Yep, anytime someone comes around that's a bit sketchy, Fenris won't even let 'em through the door. One time some idiot tried to break in and got tackled by this guy. That's why Alyss' lock is broken. Anyway, I'm sleep on the couch, get woken up by this huge commotion and call 911. Moment the cops come on the scene, Fen get's off the guy. Didn't even need to bit him. Then again, why would he? Anybody would've gotten the crap scared outta them if this giant wolf tackles them and is sitting there growling in their face,"

Loki smiled at the image that came to mind. "So I have no worries about a burglary?"

Oliver shook his head with a smile. "Nope, not at all,"

The god looked down at the wolf and patted his head. Fenris looked up at him with his amber eyes. There was something about them that seemed off. They didn't look truly accepting. No, no. It was more like he was being tolerated. Like it was waiting for a reason not to trust him.

"What would happen if he was given a reason not to trust me?" Loki asked, sounding the right kind of curious.

Oliver looked down at Fenris. "Well, never seen that happen but I really don't think that would be a good idea. Actually, that's a fate I wouldn't even wish on my worse enemy,"

"Why is that?"

"Because if Fen has allowed you in here and you prove him wrong about trusting you, you're dead meat. Literally,"

_**Author's Note:**_ Hello! Another chapter completed :D I hope you all enjoyed this! I've always been a fan of wolves and have the honour of working with them at a wildlife rehabilitation and education center. So all that makes Fenris is based on what I've learned from there. Sadly, I don't have a wolfdog myself but I hope to get one in the near future. They're so sweet and very loyal to their families.

Special Thanks to: Izzzzie for being the first to review this story :d Thank you very much and I hope you continue to enjoy this.

I hope you guys enjoyed this! Please review!

TTFN, Ta Ta For Now


	5. Chapter 5: Welcoming Party

**Disclaimer:** I repeat! I don't own Loki!Just everyone else I do.

**Chapter Five: Welcoming Party**

**=Loki=**

Loki spent much of the time talking with Oliver, learning more about the boy and his relationship with Alyss. The god was surprised to see how much they had bonded after only a few years. It was like they were siblings who'd been separated at birth only to find each other again as adults. The god listened to the boy's amusing stories about various antics and pranks on the student body of their college. One particular story about a pair of snotty girls that ended up with rainbow hair actually sent Loki in a fit of laughter. This Alyss was apparently more devious than he expected her to be. She could prove even more useful than he originally believed.

During the conversation, Oliver would ask about Loki's life. Each question was deflected or answered with a simple lie that would suffice as an answer from a normal human. As far as these Midgardians would be concerned with, Loki was simply a man who was finding his own way in the world, away from his overbearing parents and "golden boy" older brother. In a way, he had spoken the truth but only just. When the subject of siblings came up, Oliver confessed to having a younger sister in California who was majoring in Art but Alyss had no siblings. This baffled Loki but only slightly. While things weren't perfect between him and Thor, he always had a brother by his side. But this girls had no one but her parents and they were taken out of her life early. And yet, she seemed cheerful, even kind enough to help a complete stranger. None of this made sense but Loki knew if he waited long enough, he'd have his answers.

As Oliver was explaining another escapade with Alyss, some strange music came out of his pocket. Loki could barely heard the words "there ain't no rest for the wicked" as the boy took a cell phone out of his pocket and opened it before lifting to his ear. "Ye-llo? Jazzy! Hey, babe, what's up? Uh-huh. Sounds great, why don't we go to the cafe? Nah, Tomas already called her in. Yep. Oh really? Alyss is gonna win again, you know that right? Heh heh, awesome. Think you could pick me and a buddy up? Nah, just her new roommate. Yep. Guy. Yep, honest to god truth. I hope so but don't tell Alyss that! 'Kay, babe, love you," After that, Oliver closed the device and stuffed it back in his pocket. "My girlfriend's coming to pick us up. You don't mind, do you?"

Loki shook his head. "Not at all," It would do him good to get out and see Midgard for himself. Besides, as far as he could tell, there was nothing he could do on his own here without knowing how this world worked. "Where are we going?"

"Just the little cafe where Alyss works. Jazz just got her midterms back and wants to celebrate. Figured after all the crap you must've went through, being stuck in the desert and all, you'd need a night out,"

Loki nodded. "That would be very appreciated, thank you,"

Oliver nodded and set his drink down. "Hey, I forgot to ask but what were you doing in the desert? I mean, that's pretty far out. You piss some gang members off or something?"

Loki thought for a minute, coming up with a suitable lie. Feigning ignorance seemed to be the best choice. "I'm honestly not sure. I was just out drinking, having a good time and then next thing I know, I'm lying in a hospital in the middle of the desert. Sounds crazy, huh?"

Oliver nodded like he understood. "Nah. Here, that happens all the time. Ya get drunk, maybe piss off some dude just as plowed as you are and next thing you know, you're wandered the desert without a single clue as to who, where, when or why. I speak from personal experience,"

Loki laughed at the thought of Oliver stumbling around in the desert. "I'll bet,"

The boy just shrugged. "Yeah, last time that happened, I was soooo far out I had to walk several miles to the next town just to get to a pay phone and call Alyss. She's never gonna let me live that down,"

The god of mischief simple chuckled and shook his head. These humans got themselves into such messes, it was a wonder how they survived. Maybe this is what drove his brother to protect them. This fragility. Laugh all you want at all the funny stories but just being somewhere at the wrong place and the wrong time, and poof, you were gone. The simplest things could harm and maim these people, yet they seem to shrug it off like no big deal. It continued to baffle Loki to no end.

The sound of gravel crunching in the driveway jolted Loki out of his reverie. Oliver instantly got up and flew to the back door before there

was even the sound of a car door opening. Loki rose a eyebrow as he stood as well and calmly followed the boy to the door. When he got there, Oliver was opening the door for a girl whom Loki assumed was "Jazzy". She was tall and slim with a bust that looked like it was straining in the tight black mini dress she was wearing. Ringlets of auburn hair cascaded down her back and her hazel eyes had a cat-like spark to them. Oliver seemed quite enamored by this girl and Loki could see why, though this child couldn't compete with the women he knew of Asgard.

The girl's red painted lips smiled at the sight of Oliver and Loki could swear he heard the boy's heart skip a beat. That poor pathetic fool.

"Hey, baby," The girl grinned as she wrapped her arms. "Who's your friend?"

"Hey," Oliver stuttered, turning away from the girl to introduce them. "Jazzy, this is Loki, Alyss's new roommate. Loki, meet Jasmine, my girlfriend,"

"Well, hello, Loki," Jasmine smiled and walked up to him with a slightly seductive sway to her hip. She held her hand out for him to shake. "Pleasure to meet you. Call me Jazzy,"

Loki just smiled and shook her hand. "Pleasure is mine, Jazzy. I can see Oliver is a lucky man,"

"Oh, I know," Jasmine giggled, batting her make-up covered eyes.

Oliver gulped and said nervously. "Hey, why do we get going? Alyss'll be getting off soon and it's karaoke tonight,"

"Right! You coming, Loki?" She batting her eyes again, as if it would coax him into coming.

Loki simply chuckled in amusement. "I would very much like to," Jasmine giggled again as she sashayed out the door, Oliver following close on on her heels. Loki shook his head again at the display as he followed them to the car. Such fools. This was going to be an interesting night.

**~Alyss~**

If I ever get my hands on that girl...Here I was, spending my time at work taking up the slack of the blonde bimbo that bailed on the afternoon shift when I should be at home helping Loki warm up to the house. Thank go Ollie's there to give him some kind of idea of how life was like in my house. This was even supposed to be my freaking day off! Tomas is lucky that I like this job and need the money or he'd be screwed.

As I came back to the counter, my employer poked his head out of the window to the kitchen. Tomas was a laid back guy in his late twenties with olive toned skin, a soul patch on his chin and curly brown hair. He rested his muscular arms on the window sill and used his soft brown eyes to give me a puppy dog pout.

"Thank you, Alyss," He said, drawing it out like a child.

I rolled my eyes at him. "You're welcome, Tom. What would you do without me?"

He grinned. "I'd be saying that to different sucker,"

I playfully stuck my tongue out at him and grinned as I started making another coffee for a customer.

Tomas, with nothing to do is seems, sighed and stared at the door. "Any sign of her yet?"

My grin went from playful to sarcastic. "Believe you, Tom, moment I see her, you'll know,"

"If she comes in,"

"Oh, she will. Never fails, Trish calls in sick and comes in with a new boy toy,"

Tomas shrugged. "Might have learned her lesson this time,"

I snorted. "Yeah, and pink is the prettiest colour in the world,"

Tomas smiled and someone burst into laughter behind me. "Nice one, Alyss, though I'd be careful. You sounded way too convincing there,"

I turned to see my friend Rin with a tray full of empty dishes. She was my height and had the same eyes as me, except reversed. We joked that we had each other's missing eye. Her hair was brown and cut short in the back while there was still a bit of fringe at the from of her face that was dyed purple. Poor girl was pale as hell and she only had two settings: wonderbread white or lobster red. Rin always complained about my ability to tan, but all in good fun of course. I met Rin around the same time I met Oliver, at the college. All of us are aspiring writers, though while Ollie and I just simply write, Rin's specialty is manga. The girl can draw! It made me envious but I'm normally the one who helps her create a storyline so things balance out. We were all thick as thieves.

I grinned at my friend and finished the coffee I was making before turning back to the front. Right at that moment, I watch Oliver walk in with Jasmine, his "bombshell" girlfriend, and Loki following behind them. Oh dear. I somewhat groaned at the sight of Jasmine. Sure, she's quite attractive but Ollie could do so much better. Unfortunately, I'm too chicken to tell him all she wants is a bit of fun and good grades. She and I don't get along very well, what with her being a real life succubus and me being Ollie's best friend who happens to have female parts.

"Hey, who's tall, dark, and hot?" Rin smiled after she hands the dirty dishes for Tomas to clean. She stands by me and stares at Loki as they walked over to a table in my area.

I'm horrible, I admit but I just couldn't help but mess with my friend at that moment. I coughed "roommate" and quickly hurried to deliver the coffee made before Rin could scrape her jaw off the ground and dive bomb me with question. Bet that she'd have her mouth flopped open. Sure enough, once I gave a customer their coffee and turn around, I nearly fall to the floor laughing my ass off at the sight. Rin closes her mouth and glares daggers at me as I come back.

"Spill it, Alyss. Gimme all the w's and the h,"

I sighed. "His name is Loki. Me and Ollie found him pretty beat up the other night and took him to the hospital. Then we brought him back to my house and I offered to let him stay,"

"You forgot the 'why'," She said, narrowing her eyes suspisiously.

I sighed again. "I dunno...It seemed like a good idea,"

"What seemed like a good idea?" Tomas asked as he poked his head out again. Rin opened her mouth to say when the door opened again and here came the bane of my existence and her newest slave. Tom groaned. "Awww, shit,"

I smirked. "I win, you owe me fifty bucks,"

Tomas pursed his lips. "First, I gotta take care of something,"

My grin grew. "Go get 'em, tiger! You can do it!" Tomas nodded and walked out of the kitchen. Oliver came up to get the collective order just as my boss went past him.

"I take you won again, huh?" Ollie asked, leaning against the counter as we all watched Tomas talk to Trish.

I nodded. "Yep and now karma's come to bite her in the ass. Thank my lucky stars,"

"Oh, don't start thanking them yet," Rin gave me the evil eye, which made me gulp.

"What did I miss?" Oliver asked, turning around to see what was going on with us.

"And you," She glared at Ollie. "How could you let some stranger move in with our Alyss?"

Ollie put his hands up as if to say "I surrender". "Hey! Don't look at me! Alyss was worrying about the poor guy and I figured he could help her out. He passed the Fenris test with flying colours,"

I smirked at Rin. Everyone knew if something was fishy, Fen would let us know in a heartbeat. "See? And you thought we didn't think about it,"

Rin frowned at me. "Okay, so Fen says he's okay. What if it's all a ruse?"

"You really think some random guy's gonna get passed my Fenris? Give the wolf some credit,"

Rin still looked suspiciously at me but when she tried to say something, Loki came up and stopped her in her tracks. Poor thing was reduced to keeping her mouth flapped open. Again.

"Hello, and who might this be?" He asked smoothly. Rin practically melted into a little puddle on the floor. It made me laugh.

"Hey, Loki. This is Rin, my partner in crime. Rin, meet my new roommate Loki,"

Her mouth was still flopped open and her eyes were as round as moons. I placed my hand under her chin and guided her jaw back into the closed position. "Keep doing that, Rin-chan and a fly's gonna buzz right in," Oliver burst into laughter and Rin went back to glaring at me again.

Loki just smiled, clearly amused. "Hello, Rin. It's a pleasure to meet you," He said, holding his hand for her to shake.

"Puh-pleasure's all mine, sir," She stammered, melting back into a puddle.

I rose an eyebrow at that. "Okay, we better get back to work before Tomas comes back and Trish kills me. Again,"

Rin nodded and started working on another coffee, probably one to calm her nerves.

Ollie nodded. "Hey, Alyss, we need a round of specials for tonight," he called before walking back tot he table with Loki.

I returned the nod. "Gotcha, three specials coming up!"

Rin watched the two go and sighed. "Alyss, if you two ever wanna have a threesome, I'm just a phone call away,"

I nearly squirted espresso all over myself at the comment and focussed on cleaning up the mess as to hide my now-tomato red face. Rin cackled, knowing she got me back for earlier. This was going to be an interesting night.

_**Author's Note:**_ Hey guys! So sorry it's taken so long to update. My laptop's cord got busted and I've had to use an old, rundown laptop that I got from a friend. It's really difficult to work with. You can thank the new Avenger's trailer for kicking me back into gear :) Hopfully I can get some more chapters in to appease everyone for my late absense. This one turned out longer than I expected and I hope you all enjoy. Btw, Oliver's ringtone is "Ain't No Rest For The Wicked" by Cage the Elephant. The song was playing when I wrote that bit and it inspired the creation of Jazzy. Anyways, hope you all enjoy and please review!

TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!


	6. Chapter 6: Control

**Disclaimer:** I've said it once and I'll say it again: No, I do not own Loki. Sadly...

**Chapter Six: Control**

**=Loki=**

Loki watched and observed everything that went on in the cafe. While Oliver was mooning over Jazzy, who kept her cat-like eyes on Loki, Alyss and Rin were busy taking care of customers. The god watched as mortals of all types came in and out of the cafe, most interacting with the girls like they knew each other. Probably fellow students from the college, as they were all roughly around the same age. Some were nice and treated them with respect. Others, such as a trio of blondes that came in about twenty minutes after he came in, sneered and talking condescendingly to the girls. Sometimes he saw them giggle mockingly at them, whispered to each other about the girl's looks. It was apparent that both Alyss and Rin were aware of the ridicule as they would share knowing glances and sneak spitting into the food for the mockers. The god of mischief couldn't help but smile at all this. It reminded him of his time in Asgard where people would whisper about him and he'd get back at them in a similar manner. To their face, he'd be kind and well mannered but behind their backs was a different story. The same seemed to be that way with these two, though their mischief was mildly compare to all the pranks he'd pulled on others.

His observations were interrupted by the insufferable Jasmine, who placed a hand on his arm. "Hey, tonight's karaoke night here. You wanna sing a duet?"

Loki wasn't entirely sure what "karaoke" was but it apparently involved singing, most likely in front of a crowd of people. "No thank you, Jasmine. I'm not a very good singer," He said giving her a sheepish smile.

The girl ate it up and pouted. "Aww, too bad,"

"I'll sing with you, Jazz," Oliver blurted out, clearly oblivious as to what was going on.

"Of course you will, sweetie," Jasmine said off handedly, her eyes still trained on Loki. He noticed Alyss glance over at their table with sympathy in her eyes. When her mismatched eyes met his green ones, she immediately looked back at whatever she was doing. He chuckled at the blush that creeped into her face and went back to his observations. He seemed to have the strangest effect on the women of Midgard. They were either like Alyss and Rin, too shy and bashful to really approach him. Then there were those like Jasmine who were watching him like a hawk, just waiting for the right time to strike. They were rather amusing, these mortals. Back in Asgard, Thor was the one who usually made the women weak and fall to his feet. They were too enamored with Thor to notice his brother. Not that Loki minded very much. Women were too trivial for him to worry about. He had more important things to busy himself with than seeing how many girls would fall for him. But despite this, he couldn't deny the small bit of pride at the attention he was recieving from all the women in this small place. Even the men were noticing him, if only to size him up and determine how much of a threat he was. It made the god chuckle at the sight. To think these weak creatures could be any threat to the likes of him. He almost wished one of them would come up for a fight so he play with them, maybe test his powers on them.

Loki was so lost in his own musings he almost didn't notice a girl had come up to Alyss and was shouting at her. When he did, all his attention was turned to the counter. He recognized the girl as "Trish" since Oliver had pointed her out when she came in and was being chewed out by what Loki assumed was her boss. Now she was standing at the counter shouting at Alyss, who was standing on the other side with a mug in front of her. This girl was strangely thin, almost to the point of unhealthy, with long straight hair that was the colour of corn silk. Like Jasmine, her clothes were tight fitting but they might have been the only things that could hold out her small frame. Loki tried to listen to the conversation and apparently he wasn't the only one as everyone seemed to be watching the spectacle.

"...dare you convince Tomas to fire me! What gives you the right to pass judgment on people like that?" Trish growled.

Alyss stood there, leaning with her hands on the counter. Her lips were thin and her eyes narrowed. "Look, Trish," She said calmly, though could still be heard in the now silent cafe. "All I did was give Tomas my opinion. It was his choice, not mine. I merely put in my two cents. I can't help if someone takes my advice,"

"But what makes you any better than me?" Trish spat back. "I work just as hard as you do,"

Alyss snorted. "Oh really? Is that why I've had to man your damn shift for the third time this week? This was supposed to be my damn day off but no, you just had to 'call in sick'. And not only that, you walk in here like it's no big deal with another one of your minions. To be honest, I'm glad Tomas finally let you go,"

Trish glared at girl. "Oh yeah? You think it's so easy to take the afternoon shift? You have no idea what kind of people with come in here when I'm working!"

Alyss let out a laugh without humour. "Well, I've been working afternoon quite a bit so, actually, I think I have an idea. And you know what I say?"

"What?"

"Grow a pair of freaking ovaries!"

Many of the patrons started to snicker at that statement. Other let out a whistle and muttered "ouch". Trish looked at the others with a confused glance, as if she couldn't understand why she was being humiliated like this. She turned back to Alyss, who had a smug grin on her face.

"You know what I think, Alyss?" She sneered.

"Oh, do tell,"

"I think you think you're better than everyone. 'Oh, I'm a writer! I can write fairytales and sell them! I'm oh so talented'. But you know what, you're just a pathetic little freak who doesn't realize she's in over her head!"

Alyss let out a snort. "Gee, that's original,"

Trish just smiled, like she had an ace up her sleeve. "Not only that, but you can't even sell your crap,"

There wiped the smile from her face. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah, you heard me. I know about all your rejections, that nobody will take your work. What are you on, publisher number twenty?"

"Fourteen,"

"Whatever. Fact is you're not as great as you think you are,"

"You don't wanna know what I think," This time Alyss was the one to growl. Loki could've sworn he heard Oliver mutter "uh-oh".

"So what? Doesn't matter, 'cause even your professor said to give up. Gee, wasn't he the guy who said you were his best student? Not such a bestie now are you?"

Alyss just stood there, glaring with her fingers gripping the edge of the counter. She looked like she wanted to slap the other girl. Oliver stood up from his chair and so did the boy who came in with Trish.

"Hey, let's cool it guys," Oliver said calmly, walking around the counter to stand by Alyss and placed his hands on the top of her arms just in case she lunged.

"Yeah, c'mon, Trish," said the other boy, doing the same with Trish. "Let's go somewhere else,"

But Trish wasn't having it. As the boy tried to pull her away, the girl spat out "Why don't you just crawl back to mommy and daddy? Oh wait! They're dead huh? Maybe they died of shame for having such a pathetic low life like you!"

That did it. Everything happened so fast that if you asked someone the details later, they couldn't. But Loki could. He saw it all, every little detail. In just a few seconds, a pair of paws too big and twisted to be a normal cats suddenly appeared, grabbed the mug and threw the liquid inside all over Trish. Loki could have sworn he saw a wide, cat-like smile just above the mug as it happen. The smile and paws appeared and disappeared to quickly for the humans to notice or care. All they saw was Trish covered in some sticky liquid and the mug right next to Alyss's hand. All of them at the counter were too shell-shocked to move, except for Trish who was shrieking that her dress was ruined. The boy snapped out of it in time and dragged her away kicking and screaming. Once the two were gone, the cafe grew deathly silent. All the patrons were staring at Alyss, who just stood there wide-eyed and open mouthed. Finally, after a few life long seconds, someone laughed and shouted "Nice one, Alyss! Too bad it was a waste of coffee!" That seem to break the spell and the rest started laughing. Loki watched Alyss' mouth twitch as if she wanted to smile but was still getting over her shock. Oliver muttered something in her ear and she nodded then excused herself. His curiosity getting the better of him, Loki rose and eyebrow and excused himself as well, following her to where he assumed the restrooms were.

Once hidden in the hall where no one could see him, Loki close his eyes and concentrated. When he opened his eyes, he was looking out from the reflection of glass in the picture hanging on a nearby wall. Smirking, he walked out of the reflection and walked into own of the mirrors that covered the top half of the wall to the restrooms. Alyss stood there, head belt and arms holding herself up over the sink. The faucet was turned on full, most likely to mask the sniffling noises she was making. Loki stepped up to where she was. Even if she looked up at the mirror at that moment, his spell worked so she wouldn't see him, just her own reflection. She let out one more sniffle and wiped her nose on her arm before looking up at her reflection.

"Too damn close..." She whispered. When she said that, a large cat appeared perched on the top of one of the stalls. It was grey with twisted markings all over it's skin and bones body. But despite it's grotesque and twisted appearance, what unnerved Loki wasn't the fact it look like a walking corpse. It was the cat's smile that disturbed him the most. It was wide, too wide for any normal cat and it had a sinister glint in it's yellow eyes.

"My my, don't you have a temper," The cat sneered in a low masculine voice. "Must be careful, little one. Don't want anyone to find out about your gift, do you?"

Alyss let out a mirthless laugh. "Of course not. I might as well be admitting myself into an asylum, or worse,"

The cat chuckled. "But you have to admit, that was satisfying,"

She bit her lip. "In a way. But that still doesn't change the fact you could've been seen,"

The cat simply smirked. "No one noticed. You humans are so closed minded that you'll make up any excuse to hide the fact you saw something abnormal,"

She quirked an eyebrow at the cat and turned to face him, leaning back with her elbows on the sink. "'Us humans'? You make it sound like I'm one of them,"

The cat tilted his head to the side, amused. "You are human, aren't you?"

Alyss bit her lip and looked down at her feet. "Sometimes I wonder..."

The cat merely chuckled. "Oh, you are human, just special,"

She snorted again. "Yeah, I'm special alright,"

The cat leapt from it's perched and padded up to her. "You are. You just don't see how wonderful being a projector can be,"

"Is that my optomistic side talking or are you actually becoming real?"

The cat shrugged it's bony shoulders. "Maybe, maybe not. Who am I to guess? I'm just a creation of your imagination,"

Alyss smiled and patted the cat's head. "Yeah, but wouldn't it be great if you were real?"

The cat simply chuckled. "Then you'd be just like Alice Liddle, creating a world of your own,"

She looked up and smiled. "My own world..." She closed her eyes, slid down to the floor sang.

"_Cats and rabbits would reside in fancy little house,_

_And be dressed in shoes and hats and trousers,_

_In a world of my own._

_All the flowers would have very extra special powers, _

_They would sit and talk to me for hours_

_When I'm lonely in a world of my own._

_There'd be new birds._

_Lots of nice and friendly how-do-you-do birds,_

_Everyone would have a dozen blue birds_

_Within a world of my own._

_I could listen to a babbling brook_

_And hear a song that I could understand._

_I keep wishing it would be that way,_

_Because my world would be a wonder land..._" When her song was finished, Alyss opened her eyes and smiled at the cat, who had changed from the twisted cat to one that looked like the real life version of the one on her truck. "Thanks, Cheshire," She muttered, petting the cat for a few moments before it disappear. With another sigh she stood up and splashed water in her face before turning off the faucet. Loki watched as she did these things, utterly fascinated. _Maybe this girl could be of some use to me after all._ The thought made him smirk as he stepped out of the bathroom mirror and back into the picture's glass before releasing the spell. Perfect timing. Alyss stepped out of the rest room just in time to see Loki in the hallway.

"Oh! Loki, hi!" She sputtered, surprised to see him there.

Loki smiled then shifted his expression to look concerned. "Are you alright, Alyss?"

She smiled up at him. "Yuh-yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, you had to see that," She babbled, clearly embarassed about that little display. "I normally...well, you see...I've got more self control than that. I guess I just snapped,"

He nodded. "Oliver told me about your parents. I'm so sorry,"

Her smile fell a bit and her eyes became downcast. "Yeah..." She shook her head and looked back up. "But that was years ago. I'm over it. Least I should be right?" Her eyes shifted downward again, now shining with fresh tears. For some reason, seeing her so helpless seemed to tug at his heart. Without thinking, Loki place his hand on her cheek to make her look up at him.

"The loss of someone you love is a painful thing, Alyss. Especially for one so young. But you're still here, keeping your head up and smiling for everyone. To do that...is to have the strength that even I can envy," He smiled at her then gently kissed her forehead before walking away, mentally questioning himself. Why had he done that? Was that...compassion her felt? For that mortal? Loki shook himself. He was the God of Mischief, Chaos and Lies. He didn't have the luxury to be softened by these humans like Thor was. Not now, not ever.

_**Author's Note:**_ Hi all! Back again with a fresh new chapter! :D Now you get to see more of Alyss's "gift". The twisted Cheshire Cat that you first saw was based of the version from a game known as American McGee's ALICE. Here's the link to see what I mean (just take out the spaces): http : / i109 . photobucket . com / albums / n60/ Twisted_Chyld / Alice / lookiewh . jpg

The second is like a thinner, lankier version of the one in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. It's also what's painted on the side of Alyss' truck, just in case some of you forgot :) As you can tell, I'm a Wonderland fiend! ^^ The song that Alyss sang was "World of My Own" from the old Disney version. Hope you enjoy! Please review! Reviews give me drive to write more! I'll see if I can update later tonight or maybe tomorow morning. Would try sooner but I've already procrastinated some work with this enough ^^; Bad Alyss! Oh well, see ya later!

TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!


	7. Chapter 7: Curious

**Disclaimer:** I repeat: I don't own Loki. Though he can own me any day ;)

**Chapter Seven: Curious**

**~Alyss~**

What. The. Hell? Did what I thought happened just happen? Okay, so it wasn't a full on mouth to mouth kiss but still! And what did it mean? Was it normal for that to happen among friends? But even if that's the case, when did Loki start thinking of me as a friend? I only just met him last night! Then again, I'm one to talk for offering him a place to stay without even really knowing his name.

I must've been standing there with my thoughts buzzing in my head for a while because Rin came looking for me.

"Hey? You okay, Alyss?" She asked in such a way that you'd think I was a skittish fawn she was worried about scaring off.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, fine just a little..." Shocked? Floored? Flabbergasted? Where do I begin? "Off," Yeah, that sounded good.

Rin gave me a sympathetic look. "Well, Tomas says you can take the rest of the night off and hang out with your new roommate,"

My eyes bug out. "Were those his exact words or did you add that roommate bit yourself?"

Rin smiled. "Oh, I told him though it wasn't as satisfactory as I thought. He just says good for you. He's been worried, what with you living out there all on your own,"

I rolled my eyes. "Gee, you guys are so supportive," I playfully stuck my tongue out at Rin as I headed to the "employee lounge", which was actually just a storage room with lockers. I went to mine and pulled out my normal clothes so I could change out of my uniform. My thoughts kept on going back to what happened in the hall. What had happened? Or should I just forget about it and not worry so damn much? Yeah, that's probably the best thing to do. I finished changing and stared at myself in a little mirror I stuck on the inside of the door to my locker. One blue eye and a brown eye stared back at me. I took in a big breath and nodded at my reflection.

"Okay, Alyss, you will go out there, have a good time and forget what happened. In fact, there's not anything to forget because NOTHING happened. Okay? Good," With another satisfied nod, I nabbed my bag from my locker then closed it before heading back out to the main part of the cafe. Now it had gotten a little more crowded since it was open mic night tonight. Nine times out of ten, Rin and Ollie were gonna try and make me sing, which I didn't mind too much. Though I was a bit nervous at the thought of singing in front of Loki...____Oi___! Remember, Nothing happened! He's just a guy who's now a friend who's now your roommate. There, line drawn, no need to worry_. I took another big breath and walked over to the table, only to wince at the sight of Jazzy sitting there. Guess I forgot to remind myself that I needed to be nice to her but I'd had enough self-pep talks for the night. So I just sat next to Loki and smiled. "Hi all,"

"Hey, Alyss," Ollie grinned. "Feeling better?"

I grinned back. "Oodles. Oh! Please tell me someone got a picture of Trish. I could use a good chuckle now and then,"

Jazzy whipped out her phone and showed me the picture of Trish kicking and screaming like a little toddler while covered in coffee. "You can thank me later," She smiled as she dialed the number for my phone to send me the picture.

Oliver made gooey moon eyes at her. "Isn't my girlfriend the greatest?"

I just smiled and nodded, though a tad sheepishly. If I said anything, I'd either slip up and saw something bad or say something good in a sarcastic tone. I repeat, I do not like Jasmine but Ollie does and I have to abide by the best guy friend rule: Keep your mouth shut about their date!

To keep myself from putting my foot in my mouth and pissing off Oliver, I turned to Loki. "So what do you think of our little town so far?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure. I haven't see much except for the hospital, your place and here. By the way, what is this place called? I didn't catch the name,"

I snickered. Every native to Puente Antiguo knew Tomas's cafe but all newcomers were clueless to the lack of a discernable sign. The one that used to stand on top of the building had a small accident during the "Golem incident" and Tomas was still trying to find the time and money to repair it. Biting my lip to keep myself from laughing too hard. "It's called 'Java the Hut'. Tomas is a HUGE Star Wars nerd and he wanted to make this a nerd friendly place. There used to be a sign on the building but some weird accident or something happened a couple weeks back and it got destroyed. I was in New York at the time with Ollie so I haven't a clue,"

Loki gave me a curious look. "No one told you?"

I shrugged. "Well, yes and no. I'll tell you later when there's not too many people I can accidentally piss off around. It's kind of a touchy subject,"

He nodded."I see. In any case, I would very much like to see the rest of town. Would you care to show me around

"Sure, I see no problem. We'll give you the grand tour tomorrow,"

"We?" asked Oliver, being somehow dragged back to reality by a harmless two letter word. At least, I thought it was harmless.

"Yeah...as in 'Ollie and me'. Why? There a problem?"

"Uhhhhh, well..." Ollie sputtered then got saved by Jazz. If you could call it saving.

"Ollie was gonna take me camping in the desert tomorrow," She grinned. "Isn't it just so romantic!"

"Uh huh..." I looked over at Ollie. "And you were going to tell me this when?"

"Well, I've just been waiting for the right time what with school, Loki coming into town and all that,"

"I see..." I muttered, trying not to sound like the jealous female friend.

"Is there a problem?" Jazzy said in a voice that sounded like it mattered if there was but in reality it didn't. "I don't want to get in between two friends," The way she said "friends" was in a slightly sarcastic tone.

"Oh no, not at all," I muttered, trying to sound sincere. "You guys have fun,"

Jazzy smiled and looked like she was about to hug me if Loki wasn't in the way, which I was so very thankful for. "Thanks, Alyss! You're a doll!"

I twitched at her calling me a "doll" but I don't think she noticed or cared for that matter. For future reference, I hate dolls. No, I despise them. They scare me so bad I actually have a phobia of them. There was a time when I didn't talk to both Rin and Oliver for almost a month because they pulled a prank on me that involved dolls. It took weeks of their groveling to get them back on my good side.

"I'll go get us some drinks, anyone want one?" The two "lovebirds" gave me their orders but Loki offered to come up with me. I shrugged and let him, not entirely caring. Well, I did but I didn't want him to know that. At the counter, I gave Rin the table's order while Loki studied the menu on the black board. The look he gave the thing was too funny! It was scrunched up and confused like he was tried to read scribbles. "Having troubles?" I smiled, clearly quite amused.

Loki must've noticed because there was a slight flash of irritation at his expression before it settled back into confused. "There are just so many options. How does one simply choose one item from all this...mayhem?"

I rose an eyebrow at that. "Well, it's easy. Just pick whatever's according to your mood. What did you think of the special you had earlier?"

He shrugged. "It wasn't bad but not entirely to my liking. Too sweet,"

I nodded. "Okay, so you don't like your coffee too sweet. How about just a simple black coffee for now?"

He nodded and I asked Rin to get one for him. She gave me a suggestive wink and I rolled my eyes at her. Loki stood with his back against the counter, watching over the cafe. I noticed that he did that earlier, constantly watching everyone around him as if her were watching a movie. It was quite interesting and I wondered why he did that. It wasn't like he was staring off into space. It almost made me think of a spy in an enemy camp, watching life flow around them so they could see the pattern of things that made up the norm.  
>At one point, he looked down at me and I quickly looked away, hoping he wouldn't see the blush on my cheeks. I heard him chuckle with made me blush even more.<p>

"Do you like her?" He suddenly asked.

"'Cuse me?" I said, looking up to see him staring off into space again. Or was he people watching? Nope, space this time. His eyes weren't sweeping around the room like before. "Like who?" I asked, trying to get his attention.

He nodded towards the table where Oliver was fawning over a disinterested Jazzy.

"Oh," I muttered. "That,"

"That" earned a chuckle from Loki, who looked down at me with an amused smirk. "I take that as a no,"

I bit my lip, wondering how to answer that. "Can I be perfectly honest and this not get to Oliver?"

"Of course," He said it like he was shocked that I had to ask such a thing.

I took a gulp of breath before saying "I can't wait for them to break up,"

"You make it sound like they will,"

I snorted. "Yeah, the sad part is it won't be a pretty break up either. Jazzy's the type of girl who only goes for a guy like Ollie when she wants a minion. She's just using him and he doesn't see it,"

"He's in love," He said it like it was the most normal answer in the world.

I snorted again and looked away. "If you wanna call it that, sure,"

He tilted his head like a cat. "What would you call it?"

I gave a small laugh and looked up at him. "You really wanna know?" When he nodded I looked away again with a small sigh. "I call it a delusion. He thinks he loves her and she loves him but what he doesn't realize is he's wrong and is just drowning himself. Not until she shoves him down so far that he might not get back up. Not without me or Rin,"

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Loki stare at me like I was the most interesting little puzzle. "What?" I asked in almost a deadpan voice.

He stared at me a little longer before answering. "You've been there," He didn't phrase it like a question, which sort of bothered me.

"He told ya huh? About my ex?"

"He did,"

I squeezed my hands together, suddenly wanting to throttle Oliver. "What exactly did he say?"

"He said you loved this boy but he turned out to be something darker. When you two fought and he hit you, you got out quick but he wouldn't leave you alone. So you came here to get away for good,"

I twitched. I didn't like that smidge of pity I heard in his voice, whether it was intended or not. "That was years ago. I'm not the same person,"

"I'm not saying you were,"

"Good," Thankfully, Rin finally brought our drinks and we were heading back to the table. Also, Tomas was starting to set up the little stage in the corner that's usually in the shadows. No one knows it's there till Open Mic Night or they worked here and had to keep from tripping on it. This made me even more comfortable with singing. I might even do it twice if not enough people got on stage. Just as long as I could destress. The thing with Trish, plus Loki was getting to me and I needed to vent a little. After everything was set up, Tomas stepped up the mic and made the annoucement that Open Mic Night was beginning. Everyone whooped and grinned at the prospect of singing tonight. Already I could see people nudging their friends in a suggestive manner.

"So, you singing, Arisu-chan?"

"Huh?" I said dumbly as Rin slid into the chair next to me, already dressed out of her uniform and into normal clothes. "Oh, yeah, of course. You?"

She shrugged. "Maybe. We'll see. So what's the tune today?"

My turn to shrug. "Dunno. Might go with 'Sweet Dreams' or 'Otherside',"

"I say 'Sweet Dreams'. It's been a while plus you haven't done that version by Emily Browning yet,"

I nod. "'Kay. Sounds like a plan,"

A blast of feedback snapped us back to the stage, where poor Tomas was hopelessly trying to get people on stage. As much as these guys loved to sing (or at least enjoyed attempting to), nobody wants to go first.

"C'mon guys, anybody wanna take the stage? Take the edge off and all?"

I sighed. _Here we go again._ I stood and went up the stage. "If I must I must," I mutter as Tomas has a cow.

"That's my girl!" My boss grins, making me roll my eyes. It's always either me or Rin that breaks the ice. It's like an unspoken rule: If no one volunteers, we might as well get it over with.

I'm only half way to the stage and I'm already jittery. No matter how many times I've sung in front of this same crowd, I still get that tiny bout of stage fright that threatens to drag me back to my table with my tail between my legs. It doesn't help that once I get on stage, I see that Loki's eyes are trained on me. My tongue trips as I tell Tomas which song I want and I have to repeat again, which makes the wait to sing that much longer. He nods, pats back and says "Show 'em what you've got" before handing me the mic and getting off the stage. Taking one nice big gulp, I attach the mic to the stand and wait as the music trickles in from two massive speakers on the two ends of the stage. Two seconds before the singing's supposed to start, I close my eyes and take a deep breath before singing.

"_Sweet dreams are made of this  
>Who am I to disagree?<br>Travel the world and the seven seas  
>Everybody's looking for something<em>"

I started to sway my hips as I hold the mic with one hand on the stand with the other. I don't dare open my eyes.

"_Some of them want to use you  
>Some of them want to get used by you<br>Some of them want to abuse you  
>Some of them want to be abused<em>"

The lyrics start over again and I flow right along with them. It isn't until the change that I make the mistake of opening my eyes. Why do I call it a mistake? Because I get caught in a certain someone's stare. He just sits there, starting at me with this intense look in his eyes, as if he's taking my song to a whole other meaning.

"_I wanna use you and abuse you  
>I wanna know what's inside you<em>"

I'm mesmerized and I can't look away. Try as I might, I'm the little bird caught in the gaze of a snake, waiting for it to strike. I'm suddenly wishing I hadn't done this but it's too late to run away now. Might as well put on a good show.

"_Sweet dreams are made of this  
>Who am I to disagree?<br>Travel the world and the seven seas  
>Everybody's looking for something<em>"

I can see he's looking for something but what does it have to do with me? Does it involve what happened last night? Is it the reason he was in the desert? My mind is spinning as the song continues.

"_Some of them want to use you  
>Some of them want to get used by you<br>Some of them want to abuse you  
>Some of them want to be abused<em>"

He twitches at "use" and "abuse" which makes me wonder. Well, he knows about some of the less graceful part of my past, he's gonna owe me a little payment.

"_I'm gonna use you and abuse you  
>I'm gonna know what's inside<br>Gonna use you and abuse you  
>I'm gonna know what's inside you<em>"

I attempt a forceful gaze at the last line, hoping to get the message to him. But even as the song closes and I step off the stage, a little voice in my head is warning me something: _Remember Alyss, curiosity killed the cat._

I internally smirk as I take back my seat next to Loki, who's gone back to people watching. _Yes, but the satisfaction brought it back. _

The voice chuckled and I'm pretty sure it's Chesh laughing. _That may be, but is it really satisfaction?_

I just shrug. _Just wait and see_.

**_Author's Note:_** Hello everybody! Hope you all had a great Halloween! Expect some Halloween-esque chapters soon ;) The holiday has completely inspired me! ^^ Now it's just getting around to it O.o I will try and keep as up to date as I can, though I can't guaruntee since I'm also attempting NaNoWriMo this year. Wish me luck!

Also, I make start putting up a "drabble fic" to go along with this. It'll just be little deleted chapters that can't seem to fit in here. I'll let you know when I actually post it up! Hope you enjoyed this chapter :)

By the way, the song was Emily Browning's version of "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)". Ironically, it seems to fit Loki very well, don't you agree? Anyways, please review and I'll try to update ASAP!

TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!


	8. Chapter 8: Comfort

**Disclaimer:** Nope, still don't own Loki :P

**Chapter Eight: Comfort**

**=Loki=**

As Alyss stepped up to the stage, Loki contemplated their conversation. The girl seemed to tense up and look angry when she found out what he knew about her past. But if it was meant to be a secret, surely Oliver would've known to keep it to himself. Then again, he had mentioned that Alyss would down-play anything bad that happened. At these thoughts, he understood. She didn't want pity nor did she seem to like the idea of being weak. Yes, he could understand it perfectly. Back on Asgard, he was always seen as the weaker brother and if anyone gave him attention, many times it carried pity to it. He hated it and sometimes drew even farther into the shadows to avoid it. Alyss didn't have this luxury it seemed, so she merely tried to make things sound like they weren't as bad as they really were. But now it was too late. He knew the truth and now he had something to hold over this girl when needed. He smiled at the thought of out witting this little fox when the time came. Besides, her "projections" could turn out to be very useful to him.

Gentle, quiet music flowed from large black boxes on either side of the stage. The soft notes brought him back to reality and realized he'd been staring at Alyss the entire time. But that didn't mean he'd stop staring. As she began to sing, she'd closed her eyes. The act made him smile inside. It was her way of hiding without really hiding for he could read every emotion in her strange coloured eyes. However, it didn't mean she could _completely_ hide from him either. The way she moved, even the small, began as hesitant and force until the first part of the verse was finished. Now the swaying was more natural, calm, like she'd forgotten there was a room full of humans and a god of mischief watching her. Her words started to take meaning to him, now that he wasn't being distracted by her nervous quirks.

He smiled at them, at first. _You've traveled the seven seas and I the nine realms. How quaint._ Then the words took another meaning and reminded him of his life on Asgard. Odin had used him, or had meant to at least. He'd used the Frost Giants in his plans. In a way, he was abused all his life and through it, the other practically ask for it from him.

Alyss's eyes opened again and were trapped by Loki's. Never faltering from her song, she continued to stare into his eyes and he hers. At first, she seemed like a little bird caught in a snake's stare. But as the song continued, she went from hapless snake prey to careful snake charmer, holding his gaze and keeping him lulled like a cobra. It was futile of course. He couldn't be lulled into submission and he knew that fact quite well. So much so he nearly scoffed aloud at one reoccurring line.

_I will be the one to use you, little girl, not the other way around. I can take abuse to a whole new level if I have to. _He felt a small flash of surprise when she ended the song. Her eyes had a defiant look to them as she sang the last line.

_"I'm gonna know what's inside you." I would love to see you try, witch_.

When the song ended, the crowd applauded her performance and he joined in only to be polite. As she walked back to her seat, Loki turned his gaze to the crowd again, watching them while retreating to his own thoughts. With that said, he was still aware of all that was going on around him.

"...great, Alyss!" grinned Rin. "No, not great. Fantastic! Epic! Oh, c'mon, Ollie! Gimme a word!"

"Wow..." was all the boy could manage as his attention was back to his girlfriend.

Rin rolled her eyes. "Hey, lover boy! Attention here please!" The girl reach over and swatted him just above the eye with two fingers.

"Ow!" shouted Oliver, rubbing the spot Rin had injured and adjusting his glasses. "What was that for?"

"You went goo-goo eyed again," Rin said matter-of-factly. "You're glad I stopped you before you started drooling,"

Oliver glared at her then sent a worried glance at Jasmine, who was still not paying attention to him. A look of relief came over him for moment but was replaced with another glare in Rin's direction.

Alyss groaned and shook her head. "Okay, children, do I need to put you two in a time out?" The looks she'd received were so petulant and utterly childlike that Loki cracked a smile. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noted that the two girls were exchanging looks: Rin was annoyed while Alyss was sympathetic. All their attention was brought to a very loud and forceful yawn that came from the still bored Jasmine.

Alyss quirked an eyebrow. "Bored are we?"

"Yes, I am," Jasmine sighed. "What the hell do you guys do for fun around here?"

Alyss shrugged. "Depends. It's open mic night so you could always sing,"

"Or dance," said Rin, nodding to the slowly growing crowd in front of the stage.

Jasmine's cat-like eyes lit up. "Hey, Loki, wanna dance with me?"

Loki shook his head. "I'm sorry to say I'm not a very good dancer,"

The girl pouted. "You said that about singing too..."

"I don't like being in front of crowds,"

"I'll dance with you, Jazzy," Oliver piped, looking too hopeful for his own good.

Jasmine sighed again then muttered "What the hell" before grabbing Oliver's hand and dragging him to the dance floor. Both Alyss and Rin groaned and hung their heads.

"Have you talked to him?" Rin asking looking up at her friend.

Alyss' head snapped up as she glared. "What am I? His warden?"

"Have you?" Rin asked again, clearly not backing away from this.

Alyss let out another groan, tilted her head back while pinching the bridge of her nose. "No,"

"Why?" Rin's eyes narrowed at that.

"What's the point?" Alyss removed her hand from her face and looked back at her friend. "What purpose will it serve? Except to maybe to piss him off and get him not to speak to me again,"

"How about Jazzy?"

She let out a mirthless laugh. "Oh yeah, like that'll be anymore helpful. 'Not to sound like a jealous friend who, by the way, happens to be a girl but would you stop using Ollie as a tool'? Please, that'll go over like a lead balloon," She took a sip of her drink before adding "If you're so keen on breaking them up, you talk to him,"

Rin nearly snorted into her coffee. "Are you kidding? You're the only he practically lives with. I'm surprised he didn't opt to move in with you before Loki came into the picture," She though over her words then turned to him. "No offense,"

"None taken," He said smoothly, throughly enjoying this little display before him.

Alyss rolled her eyes. "If Jazzy hadn't caught him in her little web, than yeah, I'd agree but that doesn't mean I can persuade him,"

"Well I certainly can't! Before you came, I only knew him as the guy with the glasses who can talk Star Wars to Tomas. We need an outsider to give us a hand,"

Alyss's eyes lit up, as if an idea suddenly popped in her head. A very wide and mischevious slowly creeped it way into her expression. The look made Loki raise an eyebrow_. Oh? What do we have here_?

Rin's eyes grew worried. "Oh no. I know that look. What diabolical plot have you cooked up this time?"

Instead of answering the question, Alyss turned to him. "Hey, Loki,"

"Yes?" He asked, also curious as to what this girl was planning.

"You're a guy right?" She said with a knowing smile.

"Last I was aware, yes," _Though there have been times that I've been a woman but she doesn't need to know that._

"And you're awfully new in town, right?"

"Yes. May I ask what this is all leading to?"

"I'm getting there. So, in your outsider opinion, what do you say should be done about Jazzy and Ollie's relationship?"

Loki smiled. _So that's what she wants. Could be interesting. _"Well, from what I've seen and what you've informed me, I'd say he needs to get out while he still can,"

She nodded. "I see. So, if given the chance, would you be willing to bestow this wonderful advice onto my dear friend?"

"Yes but what makes you think he'll listen to me?"

She held up three fingers with her right hand. "Three things. One," She placed the index finger of her left hand it's opposite. "You're a guy. 'Nough said. Two," The first finger went down and her left index went to the next. "Me and Rin are too close to him for him to think we're giving him our unbiased and honest opinion. And three," She repeated the action on the last finger. "You are named after the Norse God of Mischief who, last I checked, was a very persuasive man. Even so far as to convince the dwarves NOT to cut off his head when he lost a bet,"

Loki looked thoughtful at this while inside feeling a little smug. _She did mention that I was her favourite god. _"Yes, but if I remember correctly, he got his lips sewn shut for the ruse,"

Alyss shrugged. "He eventually fixed that I assume. Besides, you aren't dealing with dwarves who'll sew your mouth shut. You're dealing with Ollie who the worst he'll do is yell at me and Rin for putting you up to it. So, you're in the clear,"

He nodded, considering his options. "Alright but what do I get in return?"

It was her turn to be thoughtful but in less than a minute, the wide grin came back. "I'll help you get a job here at the cafe,"_That's the best you can offer? _Though he hadn't said it allow, the expression on his face did because she frowned. "C'mon, it's not bad here. Tomas could use the help in the kitchen and with Trish gone, he'll be begging for the help. 'Sides, there is gonna be a point when I'll need help taking care of the house,"

Loki rose an eyebrow at her. "Are you saying your offer wasn't free?"

Alyss looked confused. "Well, no but it's not like I can afford two people on my own. I can barely manage myself and that's because I'm getting financial aid from the college,"

"And you decided to tell me this now?"

"I would have discussed it earlier but I got called in," She sighed and took a calmer approach. "Look, I'm not saying gimme half the rent now because you still need to get a job. I'm just saying that down the line I am gonna need help. First month'll be fine at least until you get a stable job, which I'm will to help you with if you give me a hand with Ollie. Fair?" She held out her hand for him to shake in agreement.

He considered things for a moment. Being a former prince of Asgard, he didn't like the idea of having to work to live. But since Midgard wasn't like Asgard in that aspect, he wasn't in a position to decline shelter from someone who was willing and may prove to be very useful in the future. All in all, he hadn't a choice.

"Fair," He said simply and shook her hand. This earned him a smile of gratitude, something he wasn't very accustomed to but could get very used to.

* * *

><p>The night continued on quietly. Jasmine had danced (if you could call it that) with Oliver until they were both panting and covered in sweat. She still kept her eye on Loki but this time gave a little more attention to her boyfriend, particularly by sitting in his lap most of the night. This earned uncomfotable glances and poorly concealed groans from the two other girls. They stayed until it was close to closing time, ten at night according to Alyss. Jasmine took Oliver home with her and Rin had her own ride, which meant Alyss and Loki spent the journey home alone.<p>

"Do you mind if I put on any music?" She'd asked, almost hesitantly when they got in the truck.

He shook his head. "Not at all,"

She fiddled with the buttons before soft piano music filled the room. As a woman started singing started to sing out of the "stereo" Alyss made work on starting the the truck. She quietly sang along to the music as the drove through the sleeping town where the only night life were people going to the bars to drink away their sorrows throughout the night. He had to admit, she was a good singer with better taste in music than most of those banshees, always whining about lost loves in too high voices. Very few of them had actual talent in his mind but this girl did. Her emotion came through her voice and melded well with it.

"Who's this?" He asked, trying to seem interested in what was going on with this girl.

She stopped singing and gave him a curious look. "Evanescence. Never heard them?"

He shook his head and gave her a sheepish look. "I'm ashamed to say I haven't quite lived like this before. My parents weren't fond of electronics you see,"

"Oooh, I see," She nodded, like she'd heard of that before. "Well then, if you need any help, just ask and I'll try to explain it,"

"And if you can't?"

She smiled deviously. "I'll just bribe Ollie. I may know how to work things - mostly - but he's the techie so he might be able to explain things better to you. Especially if you wanna know _how _it works,"

He nodded. "You don't care to know,"

She snorted. "More like if I could understand it all. Sometimes I'm curious but not so curious as to deal with a technology lecture,"

"Not interesting?"

She shook her head. "Not to me, though I'd rather go through that than a class on politics," She shuddered at that with such a disgusted look he couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright, so you don't like technology or politics. What subjects _do_ you like?"

Alyss looked thoughtful. "Literature. And mythology, if you hadn't noticed,"

"You did mention that," He smiled, amused at the sheepish look she was giving him now.

"Yeah, I'm kinda an English nerd. And World History, except for most governmental structures. Though there are some ancient cultures that I understand that depertment. But that's not much,"

He nodded. "What else intrests you?"

The girl tilted her head to the side like a cat and gave him a wondering smile. "Wanting to play a game of twenty questions I see?"

Loki smiled. "Yes. I'd like to know who is this mysterious girl that I'm living with,"

Her smile widened to the mischevious grin he saw earlier. "I'll only play if you do,"

"Oh?" He smiled, looking just as devious.

She nodded. "Of course. It's not fair if you're the only to know all about your roommate,"

He laughed. "And a game must be fair to be played, yes?"

"Hey, you know what they say: All's fair in love and war,"

The god was tempted to ask which this was but thought better of it. This one only wished to jump the gun on her own, not to be coaxed into it. "Alright, fair is fair. What would you like know?"

The rest of the ride consisted of them exchanging menial question's about the other's life. He stayed closer to her interests and disinterest, in which she seemed grateful. In turn, she wandered away from his life before they met in the desert, though on occasion they would stray a little close to those subjects. While Alyss was pefectly truthful with her answers, Loki spun lies that were close enough to the truth that they were believable but not enough for her to see his true self. Any questions on his family were answered with the same story he gave Oliver.

When she asked about siblings, he frowned. "Yes, an older brother," He muttered, trying not to let his emotion get the better of him.

Her cat-like tilt came back, though she was more curious this time. "Don't get along?"

"Not really. He was the athlete that my parents adored. Everyone loved and admired him,"

"But not you,"

He shook his head.

"I'm sorry. I can't say I know how it feels 'cause I'm an only child. I didn't have to share,"

"You're lucky. It isn't something I would sih on anyone,"

"But you still love them?"

He sighed. "Yes I do. That's what makes it worse,"

They stopped the truck at that point. Alyss shut everything off but made no hurry to get out. "I am sorry. I can't sympathize but I can try to understand. I've been a bit of an outsider myself but that's 'cause, when I got older I guess, less people wanted to deal with someone...someone like me I guess," She gave him a sad smile and a little shrug. "Oh well, 'sticks and stone' right?" He smiled back and it seemed to make her light up. "So! Since you're name after the god of mischief, I would assumed you've pulled a few interesting pranks?"

That made him laugh out loud. "Oh, you wouldn't believe,"

"Try me," The wide grin came back. Her happy mood was so infectious that he couldn't help but grin along side her as they exited the truck.

"Alright then, here's a good one. When I was about, oh, fifteen, I'd asked a good female friend of my brother's to a dance. She was quite the tomboy, always prefering to be around the boys rather than be around the other girls,"

"I know that feeling," Alyss muttered as she opened the back door and was nearly tackled by Fenris. "What happened? She turn you down?" She asked while trying to get past a very excited wolfdog.

"Worse. She completely rejected me and rather loudly too. Everyone around heard and all I could do was scamper away with my tail tucked between my legs. And she went to the dance with my brother!"

Alyss sucked in a breath and wince. "Ouch! What did you do?"

He grinned, bring back the memory but carefully omitting anything related to the real truth. "Oh, I cut off her hair when she stayed the night the next day," The girl burst into a hysterical laughter that turned into a strange cackling. "Oh, it get's better. Before I did that, she had blonde hair, really pretty. It was the only girlish thing about her. But once I pulled my little stunt, it seemed to have gone into shock and started getting darker the longer it grew,"

Another cackle escaped her lips. "Nice!"

He grinned in agreement. "By now, it's probably a horrible black. Now, it's your turn. Oliver mentioned you guys got into some mischief,"

She snickered. "Oh, yes. Not as rich as that but still pretty damn funny," They walked into the living room and sat in their chairs from before. Fenris resumed his place at Alyss's feet and received much attention as she continued. "One time, there were these two nasty blondes in my volleyball class at the college. They were always ragging on me about my style and looks ana all that crap. It didn't give a damn. Then one day, they took my clothes while I was takin a shower after class and stuff them into the garbage. They said something along of 'hope you enjoy your rags'," Her eyes narrowed at that.

It was Loki's turned to wince this time. "I see. What happened next?"

Her grin came back. "Oh, me and Ollie stuck in later and switched their hair care crap with dyes. I can still remember the sweet sound of shrieking when those two washed their hair and it changed their colour,"

He was now the one howling in laughter. "Well, well, I wonder what sort of punishment you recieved,"

She grinned. "None,"

He rose an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"They couldn't pin it on me. Ollie and me were careful not to give any inclination we were there. We got there before ANYONE was there! And Ollie hacked the cameras so they wouldn't catch us,"

Loki still seemed confused. "But certainly they knew it was you,"

"Oh hell yeah, they knew. But all they got was my dye job and I pointed out that about five other girls dye their hair like I do. So, it could've been any of us and since it wasn't like the dye were perminent, the teacher felt there wasn't a point in making a huge fuss about it. She was pretty cool about the whole thing, though she did warn everyone NOT to pull something like that again,"

He shook his head. "Well, you were certain lucky there. My brother pumbled me to the ground when I cut off Sif's hair,"

"Sif?"

He back pedaled, realizing his mistake. "Uh, Cynth. Short for Cynthia?"

"Oh, okay. Just making sure I heard you right,"

"Well, I can see how that might be hard with a big fluffy monster whining for attention,"

Alyss smiled and looked down at Fenris. "Are you a big fluffy monster? Huh?" She dove for the creature and rubbed him down. The wolfdog panted happily and flipped onto his back so she could rub his stomach. This made her giggle and coo as if she were talking to a baby. "Say 'I'm not a monster! Nu uh, I'm just big and fluffy!'"

"And pathetic," He grinned as he joined her in petting Fenris.

"And pathetic," She agreed, smiling up at him. "I think this'll work out, don't you?"

He was now the one to tilt his head. "How do you mean?"

"Us living together. I mean, I feel really comfortable around you,"

Loki smiled. "And I you,"

That made her grin wider. "Good!" She looked so childish and just so damn happy that he culdn't help but chuckle. They continued to talk for a time until midnight came and Alyss began yawning. "Well, sound like I better hit the sack," she muttered as she stood up with Fenris on her heels. The girl snapped her fingers and pointed to the hallway where Fenris went off to. Before following him, she turned to Loki and smiled. "See ya in the morning, Loki. Pleasant dreams!"

He nodded. "Same to you, Alyss,"

She gave him another smile before following her companion into her room. Loki sat there in the living room, thinking over the events of the day. In just always 24 hours, he'd gained a place to stay and a group of people willing to help him out without having to use any enchantments. Were humans always this trusting or was this little bunch special? Either answer made sense. Just talking to Alyss made him feel more...wanted in this world. Like he may actually belong. It wasn't true of course. If she'd known who he really was...it wouldn't matter if she was a fan or not. She run away in fear that a monster truly existed in this world. And from what he could tell, Alyss had enough monsters in her world.

He still couldn't get out of his head what happened at the cafe. The image of the twisted cat that just appeared was burned into his mind, unwilling to be forgotten. _If she could create something like that so easliy, what else could she manage? _Loki had heard of humans with special abilities, such as projecting, but never did he think he'd actually meet one. Especially not like this. It was as if fate decided to grant him a little respite but for how long?

**A/N:** Holy bat bunnies from HELL! O.O I don't have a word count on the program I use to write this stuff so I can't tell how much I've written till I put it on here ^^; I might start writing longer chapters like this cause, admit it, long chapter are better :P Anywho, I hope you guys enjoyed this :) Let me know in a review what you think!

TTFN, Ta Ta For Now!


	9. Author's Note

Author's Note:

Sigh. Alright, I have some rather sad news. I just cant seem to continue writing Fate's Deign the way it is. Now, that being said, I haven't absolutely given up on this project. I just don't feel satisfied with the way the story in right now and really wish to edit it. The basic story line will be the same, along with the characters. However, there will be a lot of changes. I'm really sorry if this makes you unhappy but I can't force my elf to continue with the current story.

I'm keeping this up for a while so that all my readers will see and hopefully keep track for the new fan-fic. I'd also really appreciate it if some of you could give me a name for it. Like I said, the basic storyline is the same and only certain events are going to be different. If you guys could send me ideas for title names in reviews or messages, I'd be really happy and you'd get the credit!

Thank you guys for the support and I hope you'll forgive me!


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